


Tempo

by Straccia_Tella



Category: No. 6 (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Shion is still pining for Nezumi, and takes his lessons into account, nigth time dancing, shion imagining Nezumi is there with him, takes place 6 months after the main story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 00:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13582383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straccia_Tella/pseuds/Straccia_Tella
Summary: Shion works late in the night in order to restore the city, but when he takes a moment to ponder his life, a certain memory resurfaces that nearly leaves him breathless.





	Tempo

_Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch._

A silver ballpoint pen on a sheet of paper laying on a desk. A boy with a blanket wrapped over his body, hunched over at the edge of his seat, staring intently at his work.

  He had been writing away for the past hour without showing signs of stopping, focusing on the words flowing from his pen like it was dancing. He felt like he was onto something, he could feel it. What it was, he wasn’t entirely sure, but he had come too far to stop.

 His desk lamp barely illuminated his area, while the rest of his room was left in darkness. He didn’t know what time it was, and he honestly couldn’t really care. Even when his bangs, fell into his face, he simply shoved the white locks away, stubbornly refusing for anything to deter him.

  _Knock. Knock!_

  “Shion!” A woman’s voice called, it was the landlady.

  “Yes?” He answers, but not letting his hand stop.

  “There’s food downstairs, and everyone else is eating!”

  “Eat without me, I’ll have some later.”

  “It’ll get cold! Don’t tell me you’re working on all of those papers again!”

  He finally glances over his shoulder.

  “Something like that, but it’s fine! Don’t worry about me!”  
  He could hear a muffled sigh on the other side of the door.

  “I’ll leave the food outside your door then, and it had better be clean when you’re finished.” She said, and he heard another sound like a tray being set down. She had been prepared. “There’s also some bread we got earlier today from some lady. She was quite strange, wouldn’t even allow me to pay her. Don’t stay holed up in there forever, Shion.”  
  “I won’t,” he replied, sliding the sheet aside to grab for another blank paper.

  Another few minutes passed before his pen came to a sudden halt. He was stuck.

  Shion shifted in his seat, hoping that some movement would prompt his thought process to return. Still nothing. He sighs as he slumps forward, and glances at the glass doors that lead to an empty balcony.  

  After a minutes of contemplation, he tilted his chair slightly so he could see his reflection in the doors and slowly traced the red mark on his cheek. It had only been half a year since his journey had ended. While working on reconstruction helped keep his mind off things, there were times where he’d remember a certain moment and ponder on it until someone called him over. He managed to look passed the mark and glanced up at the stars he could see from where he was.

  He was almost tempted to open the doors and walk outside so he could gaze at them all.

  “I wonder, would you believe in wishing on stars?” He said to himself and sighed aloud. “Or would you have laughed at me for even suggesting something like that?”

  Shion mindlessly tapped his pen against his desk with no real thought in mind.

  _Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap._

“Would you have joined me if I said I wanted to watch the stars?”

  _Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap._

  “Maybe you would have suggested something else?” Shion pursed his lips in thought. “A song, or-“

  “ _A dance?_ ”

  Shion nearly bumped his knee onto the desk in his rush, and when he turned to where he heard his voice, there was no one but himself. It took him a few seconds to calm his heart down, but the crushing sense of disappointment certainly helped speed up the process.

  _I must be going crazy if I’m hearing his voice now_ , Shion thought to himself, but found it strangely comforting.

  He could already imagine his face, smirking confidently as he drapes his arm across his chest while giving a bow that would have had girls swooning over him.

  “ _May I have this dance?_ ”

  “Nezumi…”

  _What was it he told me?_ Shion thought, standing up from his seat and pushing it into his desk. He stood in the center of his room, sifting through the memories in his head.

  “ _Here, straighten your spine._ _Raise your chin. Don’t look downward.”_

  He felt silly raising his arms up and fixing his mistakes when there was no partner there, but after he felt confident in himself, it didn’t feel so lonely. In fact, he could almost feel Nezumi’s hand on the base of his spine while the other grasped his outstretched hand, ready to lead.

  _How did the beat go again?_ Shion tapped his slipper against floor absently before he decided to take a leap of faith. Or in this case, a step.

  “One… two… three… one… two, three.” Shion muttered under his breath, subconsciously looking down at his feet.

   “ _Come on, I told you to keep your chin up._ ”

  Shion quickly tilted his chin up to retort, and immediately halted when he was met with air.

  “ _Close your eyes_ ,” Nezumi’s voice said. “ _Just follow my lead_.”

  He slowly shut his eyes, lost in darkness. However, if he focused enough, he could almost feel those hands again, holding him close in order to guide him. He could almost see Nezumi dressed in his beaten shirt and worn pants, his hair tied up on his head with a face that looked like a mixture of playful mischief and pure eagerness in his eyes.

  ”One… two, three. One… two three.”

  Shion repeated the tempo as he slowly began to dance across his room. While it was more spacious than Nezumi’s home, Shion absently tried to avoid things that weren’t there like the makeshift table and books. Eventually he started to correct his tempo and could see Nezumi’s face smiling gently as he continued to lead them through the dance.

  ” _You’ve gotten better since our last dance_. _Have you been practicing_?”

  “Not like I had enough time when we were running around,” Shion replied, momentarily ceasing to count before picking up where he left off. Neither of them stepped out of rhythm even when he stopped.

  “ _Maybe, but mayhap you were practicing with the mice when I wasn’t around?_ ”  
  Shion felt his ear get red, “That’s none of your business.”

 He heard Nezumi’s laugh, gentle and full of life ring across the room and then he took to humming instead. Shion could already imagine his face become clearer in his mind. Those dark eyes that made him feel like he was falling into the night sky or dark sea, but would have gladly welcomed the plunge. A smile that stretched those soft lips that he had only dared to get close to a couple of times. He could remember when those lips had been on his the last time they saw each other. Shion met Nezumi’s gaze, nothing would be able to take the two out of their own world, and they were fine with that if it meant they could remain like this for a little longer.

  _Thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump_. _Thump, thump, thump._

  His heartbeat began to match the tempo of their dance, their bodies moving gracefully through the air. The more he thought of this moment become a fleeting memory, the more he began to drag his feet on the ground.

“ _What’s the matter, are you already tired?_ ” Nezumi asked gently, his eyes glowing with concern.

  Shion didn’t want this dance to end, he didn’t want to be apart from the comfort of Nezumi’s warmth or the reassurance he felt in his embrace. Shion leaned forward a little, trying not to break their balance.

  ”Nezumi, I-“

  The illusion broke as he tumbled down onto the floor with a startled gasp, landing feet away from the glass doors. There was no smile, no music, and no warmth left as he rolled onto his back, rubbing his elbow that caused his whole arm to tingle. He tried not to feel sorry for himself as he stared up at the ceiling.

  “I miss you,” he whispered.

  He deeply wished he was back at their home, with the dingy ceiling, books shuffled around on the floor and Hamlet eagerly waiting for him to read another play.

  _Knock! Knock!_

  “Shion, are you alright? I heard a noise!” The landlady asked, her voice tinted with worry.

  Shion thought deeply to himself before deciding to answer.

  “I’m okay, just tripped.”

  That seemed to at least satisfy her as she walked away from his door. After he regained some normal feeling in his elbow, he tilted his head backwards to see the stars through the glass before groaning and covering his arms over his face. He felt a blush creep up on his cheeks that his arms somehow failed to fully conceal.

  “I want to see you again.”

  Even after the dance was over and the dream was shattered, his heart still beat in time with the ephemeral waltz the two of them had shared.

  _Thump, thump, thump. Thump, thump, thump_. _Thump, thump, thump._

**Author's Note:**

> First No.6 fanfic. These two were my first M/M pairing, and I still think they're very cute


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